This invention relates to a barrier.
The invention finds particular application in the provision of the barrier adjacent a road or a traffic lane or on a side of a bridge. These applications are however exemplary only and are non-limiting.
A bridge which is high and which spans a considerable distance can represent a substantial engineering feat. A bridge of this kind, for example crossing water which separates populated islands, or an island from a mainland, or which traverses dramatic mountain scenery, can attract considerable attention. Persons crossing the bridge on foot or in vehicles inevitably want to take advantage of the view afforded by being on the bridge. This type of visual capability should not however be at the expense of personal safety and, more particularly, it should not be easily possible for a person on the bridge to cross over a side of the bridge and intentionally or negligently put himself in a position of danger. For this reason the use of a barrier along at least one side of the bridge is desirable, if not essential.
Appropriate barriers are also used to demarcate a roadway. For example, concrete blocks are commonly used to separate traffic flow in one direction from traffic flow in an opposing direction. Similar blocks are also used, primarily for safety reason, to prevent or restrict pedestrians from crossing highways or freeways.
One type of structure which is at least partly suitable for the aforementioned purposes is formed from a number of precast concrete blocks, referred to as “New Jersey blocks”, which are manufactured off-site and which are thereafter positioned on a roadway according to requirement e.g. on one side of a bridge or between or alongside traffic lanes. The blocks are substantial and generally can withstand the impact of a motor vehicle. However the blocks are not particularly high and cannot effectively prevent a pedestrian from climbing over the blocks to gain access to a traffic lane.
If a fence is erected on top of a structure of the aforementioned kind then, despite the impeding effect of the fence, a determined person can, by standing on top of the structure, get a secure foothold to climb over the fence.
An object of the present invention is to address, at least to some extent, the aforementioned situations.